Term started properly the next day.

On the first day everyone turned out in force.

By the time Xu Ye had ambled up the stairs and walked into the classroom, every seat was taken.

"Director Xu is here! Give him a hand!"

Some troublemaker or other led off with that, and the whole class actually did applaud.

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Xu Ye went up to the lectern and waved a hand. "Stop, stop, stop. Don't you start messing around on me. Keep it low profile, all of you."

In fact he had noticed something was off at breakfast in the cafeteria that morning.

The moment he walked in there were people staring at him, and several fellow students he had never laid eyes on before greeted him first.

People fear fame the way pigs fear getting fat.

Xu Ye really wasn't used to the feeling of being watched.

After the two morning classes, predictably enough, his counselor Su Tong called him to her office.

He had assumed she would be going over the same old ground. Instead, the moment he came through the door, she joked, "Director Xu has arrived, has he?"

"Su-jie, don't join in with the rest of them and make fun of me."

Su Tong laughed. "Thanks to you, at least seven or eight teachers have come to me asking about you this morning. Even I'm getting a little reflected glory."

"Hah."

"All right. Let's get to business."

She sat up straight and got to why she had called him in. "Nine tomorrow morning, go over to the administration building. The school president wants to see you."

"The president?!!!"

"That's right. Word about you has gotten around the school, and the notice came down to me from above. My guess is he only wants a casual chat. It's rare for our school to produce a student who's succeeded at starting a business, and what you represent out there now isn't only yourself — it's part of the school too. If there had been more time, the school would probably have used your story…